F 549 
.C2 C19 
Copy 1 



CIRCULAR 



AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING 



CAIRO CITY PROPERTY 



CONFLUENCE OF THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS, 



ILLINOIS. 



\ 




CIRCULAR. 



ENGINEERS' REPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING 



CAIRO CITY PROPERTY 



CONFLUENCE OF THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS, 



ILLINOIS. 



TRUSTEES s 
THOMAS S. TAYLOR, Philadelphia. 
CHARLES DAVIS, New-York. 



Nero-fork : 

H. COGSWELL, PRINTER AND STATIONER, 

19 & 21 Merchants' Exchange. 

1847. 






fN EXCHA.NOI 



Boston Athend&uvr\ 

Mr 2b '06 



CONTENTS 



DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CAIRO CITY PROPERTY. 



Page. 

1. Skeleton Map of the United States 

2. Circular by the Trustees 1 

3. Map of the Site of Cairo 15 

4. Report of Win. Strickland and R. C. Taylor, Engineers. . . 17 

5. Extract from a Report, by J. Freeman, Engineer, to the Legis- 

lature of Illinois 23 

6. Extract from a Committee in the Congress of the United States. 24 

7. Extract of Report from a Committee of the State Legislature 

of Illinois, upon the Central Railroad and Cairo City, as the 
terminus 25 

•8. S. Worsley, Engineer, Report to the English Proprietors. . . 28 

9. H. Baldwin, Esq., Letter to the Trustee 32 

10. Another Letter to same 33 

11. Extract from a Western Review 34 

12. Extract from S. A. Mitchell, Work on Illinois 40 

13. Name and length of the principal Western Rivers 41 

The "Deed of Trust" may be seen at the office of the Trustees, 
in Philadelphia, New-York and at Cairo, where also may be 
obtained every information relative to this great undertaking. 



CAIRO €ITT PROPERTY 
STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



Let the foremost men of our age be called together : let 
a map of the world be enrolled before them, and there are 
certain points which instantly engage the attention of all; of 
the conqueror— the statesman— the philanthropist — the law- 
giver — the man of business, and the capitalist. 

These points are so many centres of civilization. They 
are always found where vast bodies of water meet, and large, 
populous and fertile territories converge, under favorable 
circumstances, for colonization, supply and defence. 

Cairo, in Lower Egypt, Constantinople, St. Petersburg, 
New York and New Orleans and the North American 
Cairo, springing up at the confluence of the Mississippi and 
Ohio rivers, are examples. The Egyptian Cairo, lying 
midway between Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean Sea and 
the North of Africa ; St. Petersburg, where the Gulf of Fin- 
land, the Black Sea and the White Sea, the Baltic and the 
Caspian, pour in their wealth upon her, through the Dnie- 
per and Dniester, the Neva, the Owina and the Volga, with 



all their ten thousand reservoirs, by the help of her great 
canal system, which secures a continuous fresh water navi- 
gation of nearly four thousand miles, from St. Petersburg to 
the borders of China : New Orleans and New York, where 
they drain the whole empires of their produce and furnish 
correspondent supplies : while the North American Cairo, 
unheard of till within a few years, though more favorably 
situated than either, is just beginning to engage the serious 
attention of leading minds in Europe and America. 

Where nature has done so much, the little that is left for 
man to do, he may well be charged with as a solemn duty. 
But his understanding must be enlightened — his judgment 
satisfied, before he lifts a finger. Otherwise the statesman 
sinks to the level of a dreamer, and the sagacious calculator 
of probabilities, the cool headed, cautious, foreseeing man of 
business, to that of a gambler and a speculator. 

Not enough is it, therefore, to satisfy the mind that a city 
like the North American Cairo should be near the very cen- 
tre of a great commonwealth of nations ; that it should be 
accessible at all seasons to the largest vessels afloat ; nor 
that it should occupy the very point where ends a profitable 
upper voyage from the sea, and where twenty thousand miles 
of downward river navigation unite, after wandering in every 
direction through territories, containing more than two hun- 
dred and fifty millions of acres of the richest soil, take it to- 
gether, upon the face of the globe, with a population every 
where remarkable for their energy, thrift and foresight, of 
more than six millions, which doubles on the average in 
about twelve years ; while the State of which it is the centre 
and chief hope, Illinois, and her immediate neighbors on the 



west, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin, have hither- 
to more than trebled their population every ten years — going 
up from 329,639 in 1830, to 1,146,209 in 1840; in that, includ- 
ing the Upper Mississippi, or such parts of Virginia and 
Pennsylvania as are watered by the Upper Ohio. 

All these things may be true and every where acknow- 
ledged to be true, and still before the men that are to be 
looked to for the management of a vast enterprize, would 
enter upon it in good faith and earnestness, there would be 
many a serious question asked, which would have to be an- 
swered clearly and positively and without qualification. 

For example : there would be questions touching the 
healthfulness of the City itself and of the neighborhood ; 
questions about drainage ; about the supply and quality of 
water; of building materials, provisions and fuel; about the 
chances of inundation, as at St. Petersburgh, or New Orleans, 
or Cincinnati, or St. Louis ; its resources and capabilities at 
all times, and especially in a time of war ; and questions 
about the probabilities of a handsome return to mere property 
holders, or stockholders, not inhabitants of the place ; for 
the foundations and outworks of the city having been laid 
for them, as the foundations and outworks of St. Petersburg 
were laid for the merchants and nobles of Russia, by Peter 
the Great ; they are to build the City. 

Can all these questions be answered ? And answered in 
such a way as to satisfy those who desire to know the truth. 

And first, as to the HEALTH of the place, instead of being 
unhealthy, or well nigh uninhabitable at certain seasons of 
the year, like some of the largest cities of the world, Cairo is 



among the healthiest of the vast region, watered by the Mis- 
sissppi and Ohio and growing more healthy every year. 

Doctor James C. Cummings, now of Salem, Mass., resided 
in Cairo three years, and through the whole of three sickly 
seasons, practising there as a physician. " During my resi- 
dence," he says in a letter, dated March 18th, 1845, and Dec. 
15th, 1846, "there was, it must be allowed, considerable 
sickness in the summer months, and a number of deaths. 
But who were the sufferers ? Those who would have sick- 
ened and died even in New England, had they lived in the 
same reckless defiance of all the principles that govern life. 
They were mostly foreigners and drank inordinately of whis- 
key, and, on account of the closeness of the shanties, would 
spend the nights asleep in the open air, exposed to the almost 
dribbling dews. Their cabins were so miserable that a nor- 
thern farmer would think them unfit for his cattle. During 
the summer of 1840, although it was called sickly, but two 
Americans died ; one of them an old lady of seventy, who died 
of a relapse from bilious fever, owing to imprudence and over 
exertion. Only one other female died, an Irish woman,who 
had no medical treatment. The population at that time was 
at least fifteen hundred. 

" Yellow fever and consumption are unknown. There is 
not a swamp within miles of the city, and the rivers being a 
mile or more in width, Cairo has nothing to fear from the 
miasmata of the Kentucky or Missouri shores. There is, 
generally, a refreshing breeze from one river to the other. 
The City is perfectly protected from inundation, by a levee 
running three miles up the Mississippi, and about one on the 
Ohio, and a cross levee of nearly a mile to unite the two, 



which has satisfactorily stood the test of the great rise of 
both rivers in the spring of '44. 

" The climate is delightful. The summers are long and by 
no means extremely hot. The atmosphere is generally 
clear and there are usually refreshing breezes. The winters 
are short and mild ; snow is seldom seen and lies but a 
short time. 

" The diseases prevalent, are intermittent fever (or fever 
and ague), bilious fevers, and in winter there are occasional 
cases of bilious or typhoid pneumonia. These I found 
generally manageable, execept in individuals whose habits of 
life would preclude the possibility of recovery from any dis- 
ease, in any climate. Intermittent fever is not more preva- 
lent than in any other new country, and it need not be much 
feared, if people would not destroy their constitutions by the 
immense doses of medicine taken for it. The calomel and 
quinine, used as they are in the West and South, do infinite- 
ly more injury to the system, than the ague would, if left en- 
tirely to itself, without one particle of medicine. The water 
is excellent. Skippers say it is the best in the world. After 
a heavy rain of days even, twenty-four hours of clear 
weather, will, generally, make the walking good in any 
direction." 

2. DRAINAGE. — ^ he centre of the town being equi-dis- 
tant from the Ohio and Mississippi, a fall of about ten feet to 
the half mile each way, being allowed by the Engineers, 
who recommend for each street, " a brick-built cemented 
sewer, with suitable openings to allow, in case of need, for 

the rising of the waters within the drain, to open at right 

1* 



angles into the main sewer, or straight through the levee 
into the river, it follows, that unless the levee is overflowed ;" 
of which there is no danger, as will appear under another 
head, "the sewer will be uninjured and the drainage at all 
times perfectly efficient." 

3. SUPPLY AND QUALITY OF WATER.— Cairo 

being situated at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi . 
with the power of taking water from either and for any 
purpose, the supply must of course be inexhaustible. And 
as for the quality — like that of the Neva, which supplies 
the want of springs to St. Petersburg, it is a proverb for its 
excellence, and everywhere acknowledged to be far better 
than the purest well water to be found in the neighborhood 
of most large cities. The fine sand held in suspension by 
the Mississippi, operates in some degree as a purifier or 
filterer, and is deposited in the course of a single day. 
Travellers speak of it with a sort of enthusiasm. 

4. BUILDING MATERIALS.— Cairo is surrounded for 
many miles with the largest forests of timber in the State of 
Illinois. Large and beautiful cypress, from which the best 
of lumber, clapboards, shingles, scantlings and joice may 
be made, is found in the greatest abundance, and the whole 
upper country must, in the very nature of things, continue 
to yield the best growth of her primeval wilderness to the 
demands of Cairo. The rail roads, upon which the State 
has already expended eight millions of dollars, and which 
traverse her territory in all directions, thirteen hundred 
miles, must in time be completed. Sand, clay of the bes>: 



quality for the bricks, and building stone of different kinds 
are abundant, and may be had for the expense of digging 
and quarrying, in the immediate neighborhood of the city. 

5. PROVISIONS AND FUEL.— The astonishing quan- 
tities of Indian corn, wheat flour, pork, butter, lard, beef, &c. 
&c. for which the " Western Country" has been a growing 
proverb for the last forty years, until it has come to be re- 
garded as literally the store-house of nations, are a con- 
clusive answer to the first part of this enquiry. What has 
already been set forth, under the head of building materials, 
shows the plentifulness of wood through the whole of that 
vast region ; and bituminous coal is known to be everywhere 
cheap and abundant, being now delivered at Cairo for $2,50 
per ton . 

6. CHANCES OF INUNDATION.— The whole of the 
peninsula on which the city of Cairo is laid out, is elevated 
to thirty-five feet above low water mark. Large portions 
are from one to two feet above the highest water mark, 
while that portion which has been heretofore submerged at 
times, lies, upon the average, from three to five and a half 
feet below it. "And there is no difficulty in fixing the 
extreme height of the water at this place, from the known 
fact," says Judge Thompson, one of the most experienced 
Surveyors of the West, "that whenever the rise of the two 
rivers reach a certain height, so immense is the extent of 
the country overflowed on the Mississippi bottom, below 
and opposite the mouth of the Ohio, that all the waters of 
the Western rivers could not raise it additionally six inches 



8 

at this point." And Mr. Strickland, the Engineer, writes as 
follows, after having made the survey : — " It is just as prac- 
ticable to build a city at the junction of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi, as it was to build the city of London between 
Temple Bar and the Tower. The embankments, for which 
abundant materials are to be had on the spot, require 
only eight feet elevation." Judge Thompson and Mr. 
Strickland are both confirmed by Mr. Richard C. Taylor 
and Mr. Worsely, both Engineers, and employed by the 
English proprietors for the purpose of a thorough investiga- 
tion. After these surveys and estimates, which appear in 
the report of Messrs. Strickland and Taylor, of Dec. 13, 
1838, a levee or embankment fronting the river, one hundred 
and twenty-five feet in width, and eight feet above the origi- 
nal surface, having a slope of one foot in height to five feet 
horizontal, was begun, and a tract enclosed of seven miles 
in circumference; the northern boundary being a natural 
ridge running from the Ohio to the Mississippi, which has 
never been wholly overflowed. While the work was under 
way in 1844, a great rise of both rivers took place, the 
greatest of any upon record, yet the waters did not approach 
within two feet of the top of the finished embankment, 
and subsided without doing any damage to the slope. It 
was also ascertained, that while the waters higher up the 
rivers were rapidly increasing, the waters around Cairo, 
after they had reached a certain height, did not rise more 
than one inch a day. Theory and experience combine, 
therefore, in establishing the security of Cairo against inun- 
dation. 



7. RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES AT ALL 
TIMES, AND ESPECIALLY IN SEASONS OF 
WAR. — Timber, provisions, hemp and fuel being abundant 
and cheap, and iron so plentiful, as to be furnished by the 
Tennessee and Mississippi rivers for per 25 cent, less than 
the Pittsburg price, and the vast mineral regions of the West, 
abounding in lead, copper, and other ores, labor ought to be 
cheap in proportion ; and on referring to a letter from Senator 
Breese, of Illinois to the Honorable Mr. Bayard, Chairman of 
the Committee on Naval Affairs in the U. S. Senate, dated 
February 29th, 1844, when the expediency of establishing 
a naval depot and dock-yard, at or near the; confluence of 
the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, was under consideration, the 
surpassing fitness of Cairo for a naval depot and dock-yard, 
and her capabilities of supply and defence are demonstrated, 
with a clearness and strength of illustration which admit of 
no questioning whatever. 

" There are to be found," says the Senator, "in inex- 
haustible abundance, and at the cheapest rates, the timber, 
the iron, the hemp, the provisions, and every thing necessary 
to the construction of war steamers and other vessels ; and 
there may be had, at the least possible cost, the steam power 
necessary to work all the needful machinery. 

" There all the great rivers of the West converge, as to 
a centre, to which the materials of war may be sent upon 
their thousand branches, as on the radii of a circle to its 
centre, and the needful supplies despatched from that centre 
to the Gulf of Mexico on the South, or the Lakes on the 
North, or the frontiers of Mexico and the Indian tribes on 



10 

the West and North-west," and why not to Oregon and 
California ? 

There " most of the commerce of those mighty rivers, the 
Missouri, the Upper Mississippi, the Wabash and the Ohio, 
the Cumberland and the Tennessee, must pass on its way 
to the ocean. 

" It is far enough north to avoid the discomforts and fevers 
of a southern climate ; and far enough south to avoid the 
frost, which, during a portion of each winter, binds in fetters 
the giant streams of the great West. 

" Jt is too far from the sea to be approached by foreign 
navies ; too far from the lakes to be reached by an invading 
army from the British possessions ; and too far from the 
Western frontier to be in danger from Mexican invasion." 

" It lies at the very head of navigation from the sea for 
vessels of large burthen, and midway as it were, between 
the two extremities of what is soon to become, literally a 
highway for the nations, between New- York, Boston and 
Portland at the North, and New Orleans at the South, over 
which, by way of the great Lakes, must soon pour another 
steadily growing tide of emigration and interchange. 

" It is the converging point of a system of railways, thirteen 
hundred miles in length, upon which the State of Illinois has 
already expended eight millions of dollars, and which, in 
time, will be completed, together with her canals. 

" During a considerable portion of the year, in consequence 
of low water, the trade of the rivers above, especially the 
Ohio, the Cumberland and the Tennessee, is carried on in 



11 

small boats, not adapted to the navigation of the Lower 
Mississippi. These would keep up the trade between the 
depdt and the States above, on all the rivers ; bringing down 
at the same time, supplies for the naval station, and small 
freights for the New Orleans markets, which accumulating 
there — at Cairo — would be taken down the Mississippi by 
larger boats running between that place and New Orleans. 

" While the rivers above are low, or obstructed by ice," 
to the ruin of thousands on the sea board, who have been 
tempted into making advances upon shipments, and of tens 
of thousands in the West and South-west, who, unable to 
obtain advances at any reasonable rate, are obliged to bear 
the whole risk of shipment themselves, "the mouth of the 
Ohio has many of the advantages of a sea-port. There 
the great rivers never freeze over, and if ever obstructed by 
running ice, it is only for a day." 

Such being the testimony of a senator of the United States, 
and such the unquestionable facts, nothing more can be re- 
quired under this division of the subject. 

8. ON THE PROBABILITIES OF A HANDSOME 
RETURN TO MERE PROPERTY HOLDERS OR 
STOCKHOLDERS, NOT INHABITANTS OF THE 
PLACE. — The inhabitants of Cairo must thrive. All the 
inhabitants of this region do so, and they cannot be an 
exception. But how will it be with others, mere strangers, 
property holders and tax-payers 1 

If the past be a safe indication of the future — if what has 
always happened, is likely to happen again — if the sources 



12 

of certain wealth, and all the advantages secured by nature 
to the location of the city, as already enumerated, be helped 
forward and made secure by a correspondent endeavor on 
the part of those who are both able and willing to enter upon 
the work ; then are the probabilities, or rather the certain- 
ties of a large and early, and for ever increasing return for 
a wise investment of capital, beyond the reach of doubt. In 
fact, it is generally seen and admitted, that the largest and 
most rapid fortunes in all countries, and especially in the 
United States, have grown tip from the possession of Land 
within and near the precincts of well located Towns and 
Cities. What, then, may not be fairly and reasonably hoped 
by the sole possessors of a chartered Town, in regard to 
which, two eminent English and American Engineers have 
reported that, " Topographically considered, Cairo is nearly 
in the centre of the United States ; and we cannot withhold 
our surprise that any doubts should ever have been entertain- 
ed or acted upon, with reference to the practicability of 
erecting a City at the confluence of these great navigable 
rivers, the Ohio and Mississippi. The texture and solidity 
of the Banks is firm and secure as any other position for 
building higher up the streams. It is at the very threshold 
of the most fertile regions of the West, — surrounded by the 
best timber and bituminous coal, and from the construction 
of the great Central Rail Road, and the immense range of 
navigable rivers, all centering at this place, it must, necessa- 
rily, have the immense advantage of becoming the great 
entrepot of the agricultural and mineral wealth of this great 
empire of industry and enterprise. In short, there is not in 
any quarter of the Globe, a situation so commanding, and 



13 

replete with every kind of produce and materials to promote 
the prosperity of the Merchant, the skill of the Mechanic, 
and the growth of a great City." 

The indebtedness of the Cairo City and Canal Company 
in Bonds, Mortgages and Stocks, has been so held, that 
after the failure of the English Bankers and Proprietors, 
through whom the loans were effected, it was found imprac- 
ticable to carry on the improvements required ; and the largest 
portion of the responsibilities of the Company being held by 
the assignees of Bankrupt estates, both in this country and 
in England, it became necessary to sell to a new Company—- 
and to allow such of the old Stockholders and Creditors as 
were able, to reinvest under the present organization — this 
being satisfactorily effected, the whole property is now held 
and represented by Trustees, under the name of the 
Cairo City Property, the title to which, being made 
unqestionable, and clear of all incumbrances, is now divided 
into Shares of the par value of one hundred dollars each — 
not subject to assessment, nor is any personal responsibility 
incurred by the holder thereof, and are transferable as per- 
sonal property on the Books of the Trustees at Philadelphia 
or New- York. 

The Cairo City Property embraces in all 9732 acres — 

with the improvements of Buildings, Work Shops, Saw 

Mills, Hotels, Dwellings, Levees and embankments thereon. 

That portion of land which is and will be enclosed as the 

" Site of the City" — when divided into allotments of 120 

feet by 25 each, will give to each Share a beneficial interest 

of one lot in Cairo, and, also, in all other land and properly 

held by Trustees. The Trustees retain 5000 shares, to be 

2 



14 

by them sold, and the proceeds applied to the benefit and 
improvement of the City, the balance of Shares, being appro- 
priated wholly to the extinguishment of the responsibilities 
upon the property. 

When the plan of the City is agreed upon, and the cost of 
the contemplated improvements thereon ascertained — a valu- 
ation or minimum price will be affixed to each lot — as will 
produce in the whole or aggregate when sold, a sum or in- 
come sufficient to justify the largest outlay necessary for the 
further protection and improvement of the Cairo City Pro- 
perty, and the return of the Capital already invested — and 
when the lots are offered at public sale, (which is contem- 
plated to be done semi-annually) purchasers will bid for 
choice of lots upon the valuation affixed — with the privilege 
of taking any number in a block or square, thus giving 
greater inducements to parties to form Associations for erect- 
ing uniform Buildings thereon. This undertaking, like other 
great public improvements, has its opponents, which is to be 
expected, especially from those whose interests are antagonis- 
tic. But the facts and opinions herein given are fully sus- 
tained by the Documents in the Appendix — emanating from 
parties having no pecuniary interest in the matter. 

Such are the prospects and resources of Cairo ; and such 
a brief history of the magnificent enterprise which is now 
beginning to engage the attention of our ablest men in all 
parts of the country, and of many foreign capitalists. — 
Rightly understood, and correctly followed up, there need 
be no apprehension about the future. Cairo must and will 
be, and at no very distant day, the central depot op 
all the Western and South-western States op 
this confederacy. "THE TRUSTEES." 



APPENDIX. 



if 
>f 

n 
)f 



if 

it 






BAfUSgSfi 



, <cf 






o 







-A 



TilE SITE OF CAIRO 

dl /he confluence oftke 0/uo&. Mississippi 
Rivers-Tnis Gty, like 'JPew Orleans is enclosed 
bu Levees^ Iron/ tins point to the O't/ff of 
Jaejceco, the river is open the ivJoole year 

for the largest Class Steam Boats TJie 

distance to JC is 1000 . lit lis _ TinieoJ ' 
running if four dat/s. 




11111 I I I I I I iiijjii 






m 1 1 



REPORT 

Upon the Site, at the Confluence of the Ohio and Missis, 
sippi Rivers, upon which it is intended to found the 
City op Cairo. 

Upon an examination of the peninsula at the junction of 
the Ohio with the Mississippi rivers, at the lowest stage of 
the waters, the elevation of the land is found to be from 30 
to 35 feet in height on both the rivers. The banks are 
made up in horizontal layers of alluvial depositions of various 
thicknesses, composed of loam, sand and clay ; — the top 
surface is formed of a rich soil, and slightly undulating in a 
direction across the point of land from river to river. This 
unevenness has evidently been formed at some remote 
period, by the overflow of the superior current of the Mis- 
sissippi ; the banks of which river being somewhat higher 
than those of the Ohio, the drainage, when the freshets 
subside, is directed towards the latter stream : this surface, 
however, may be considered nearly a level plane, with 
slight indentations, formed of parallel ridges and banks for 
a distance of several miles, in a northerly direction, from 
the extreme southern point of land. 

The whole peninsula is covered with a thick growth of 
forest trees, many of which are exceedingly heavy, mea- 
suring from 3 to S feet in diameter. The cotton wood, 
sycamore, mulberry, maple and box wood, abound over the 
surface. At the extreme southern point, for the distance of 
500 or 600 feet from the water, the land is evidently of 
recent formation, being not more than from 15 to 20 feet in 
height, and sustaining a great quantity of young saplings of 
cotton-wood. 

On the Mississippi, at the distance of two and a half 
miles above the junction of the Ohio, the river in its lowest 
stage, flows rapidly through a very deep channel, and makes 
slight encroachments on its banks by under washing the 

2* 



18 

earth ; which, in many places, for the extent of a mile, is in 
an overhanging and perpendicular position ; but this abrasion 
of the banks may be easily prevented by removing the 
overhanging masses of earth, and the heavy forest trees 
growing near the margin of the river, and by the construc- 
tion of a wing dam, projected at the turn of the stream 
above. We do not, however, perceive that the Mississippi 
side of this peninsula can well be made eligible as a landing 
place for this front of the contemplated city, particularly so, 
when it is known that the Ohio shore is always much more 
free from any encroachments of the water on its banks or 
depositions of sand bars. The current of the river is not 
one-fourth part as great as that of the Mississippi, being not 
more than one mile per hour, with a depth of water gra- 
dually increasing from its shores to the channel, forming an 
excellent approach to the town for vessels, and altogether a 
better harbour, and landing for steam-boats and other craft, 
in case of heavy winds and freshets. 

From the marks on the trees, it is very evident that the 
highest overflow of the waters, above the surface of the 
peninsula, averages from 4 to 5 feet, and that some of the 
highest points of the ridges of land are above the greatest 
floods. With regard to this inundation of the land, which 
seldom takes place to the height mentioned above, it becomes 
immediately necessary to consider : — 

First. — What plan should be pursued to embank a given 
space, in order to secure habitations from this occasional 
overflow. 

Secondly. — Where is the best position on this neck of land 
to be first selected for the commencement of buildings to 
form the nucleus of a city. A previous question, however, 
to either of the foregoing, necessarily relates to the firmness 
of the banks, and their capability to sustain the foundations 
of dwellings, together with the facilities at hand of procuring 
suitable materials for embankments, to protect habitations 
from the inroads of the waters. 



19 

With reference to all these questions, the undersigned 
pronounce an unequivocal opinion, that the firmness of the 
banks is unquestionable, and that the practicability of pro- 
curing abundant materials, necessary for the foundation and 
construction of a city, is also beyond a doubt ; and for the 
commencement of this project, we propose the following plan 
of operation : 

First. — That the position or location of the city should 
be near the junction of the two rivers, and that the limits to 
be first laid out, embanked and defended, should not exceed 
a quarter section, or half a mile square. 

That in securing the most southern position as the site or 
commencement of the town, a great body of earth, some of 
which is now washing away by the current of the Missis- 
sippi, may be procured from the extreme south point of the 
peninsula, and easily removed to assist in forming the em- 
bankment or level round the half-square mile. 

Second. — That the principal front of the town be parallel 
to the Ohio river, and that the present banks on this front be 
reduced to a slope or ascent from low-water mark upwards, 
in the proportion of 1 foot in height to 5 feet horizontal ; 
and that the banks of earth thus reduced should be carried 
up and filled in throughout the principal streets to the height 
of 8 feet above the level of the present surface of the ground, 
so that each street be made up by an embankment. 

That the foundations of the stores, warehouses and dwell- 
ings, be carried up to the height of 9 feet above the present 
surface, forming, with reference to the streets when filled 
up, underground or cellar stories, and that all the buildings 
contain four stories above these basements. 

Third. — That the bank or levee fronting the river be at 
least 125 feet in width, filled up to the height of 8 feet above 
the present surface, and that the surrounding banks of the 
half-mile square be at right angles with the levee on the 
front of the river, 80 feet in width and 8 feet in height. 



20 

Fourth. — By the adoption of the slope of 1 to 5, or even 
a little less, if required, a great body of earth, now in nearly 
a vertical position, will be cut off from the brow of the banks 
of the river, and the disposition to slip or slide will be entirely 
removed ; the great body of water will then lie on this 
slope or inclined bank, and in times of freshets the tendency 
of the waters will be to consolidate, instead of abrading the 
shores as they now do, throughout the whole course of the 
river. The height of the present banks being from 30 to 
35 feet above low water, and that of the levee 8 feet in addi- 
tion, it follows, that the top of the slope will commence at 
the distance of 215 feet from the river, and the amount of 
excavation along the shore will thereby produce a sufficient 
quantity of earth to make up and embank an ample levee 
along the whole front of the town. 

The slope of the levee from low-water mark, and even 
below that point, immediately in front of the town, should 
be paved with stone, set on edge, after the manner pursued 
at Louisville and Cincinnati, but not with so much steepness 
as at either of these cities. Abundant material may be had 
for this purpose at a moderate distance above the site of the 

city. 

The rail-road now constructing by the State of Illinois, is 
already located at this point. The route is cleared of the 
timber, and the depot is laid out on the Ohio river front, 
about one mile above the extreme southern point of the 
peninsula, and this circumstance alone ought strongly to 
urge the immediate commencement of the town to the 
south of the depot, and the continuation of the railway from 
thence along the levee, in front of the stores facing the river. 
We beg leave to refer you to the accompanying map, which 
contains all the principal points of immediate consideration. 

In conclusion, we cannot refrain or withhold our surprise 
that any doubts should ever have been entertained or acted 
upon, with reference to the practicability of erecting a city at 
the confluence of these great navigable rivers. Topogra- 



21 

phically considered, Ihe site is nearly in the centre of the 
United States ; the texture and solidity of the banks at the 
point is as firm and secure as any other positions for build- 
ing, between it and the rocky foundations higher up the 
streams. It is at the very threshold of the most fertile 
regions of the West, surrounded by the best timber and bitu- 
minous coal, and from the construction of the great central 
rail-road, and the immense range of navigable rivers, all 
centering at this point, it must necessarily have the exclusive 
advantage of becoming the great entrepot of all the agricul- 
tural and mineral wealth of this great empire of industry 
and enterprize. In short, there is not in any quarter of the 
globe, a situation so commanding, and replete with every 
kind of produce and materials to promote the prosperity of 
the merchant, the skill of the mechanic, and the growth of 
a great city. 

Respectfully submitted 

By your obedient servants, 

WILLIAM STRICKLAND, Architect and Engineer. 
RICHARD C. TAYLOR, Engineer and Geologist. 



22 



Report of Capt. J. Freeman, Chief Engineer of the Central 
Railroad, to the Commisioners of the Board of Public 
Works. This Report concludes as follows : — 

The first surveys of this line were commenced at Cairo in 
August, 1837, and steadily prosecuted until the severity of 
winter compelled a suspension of field work. During the 
succeeding spring, a distance of twenty miles was located, 
and on the 7th day of May, was put under contract ; in the 
meantime, the examination of the country was progressing. 
In August, a further portion of the work, including three 
miles at Vandalia, and three additional miles in the south, 
was prepared by order of the Board and contracted. 

The law having confined the point of starting to Cairo 
City, there was but little range in the selection of a site for 
the depot. Several causes operated in the selection of the 
present site. Its position is on the Ohio River, about three- 
quarters of a mile above its mouth. The river bank, at this 
point, is the highest of any throughout the extent of the city 
front. Its vicinity to the mouth will diminish, materially, 
the convenience in touching at the port for vessels engaged 
in the Mississippi trade ; whilst the gentleness of the current, 
and the unvarying depth of water, at once make it as good 
a harbor as can be desired. 

The Mississippi, on the contrary, from its impetuosity and 
the variableness of its channel, renders the permanence of a 
good harbor and landing very uncertain. It will, however, 
be a matter of future consideration, whether a depot and 
landing place should not be constructed on the Mississippi 
bank, to be used when the stage of water will permit. 

The reiteration of statements extremely disadvantageous 
to the position of the point by law required to be selected for 
this depot — vague and uncertain to some extent as they are, 
and originating in antagonistical interests, although discred- 
ited by me — has had the effect to cause a very careful ex- 
amination of the whole point. The result has been a 



23 

thorough conviction that the State incurs no risk in complet- 
ing her works. The earth is firm and dry, and fully capa- 
ble of sustaining the weight of any mass of buildings which 
could be crowded thereon. 

During the highest water, there is very little current out of 
the channel of the rivers ; and as the grade line is established 
at such an elevation that it cannot be overtopped, there is no 
danger to be apprehended of the destruction of the embank- 
ment. 

The termination of the Central Railroad is the most re- 
markable point in the west. It is undeniably the head of 
low water navigation for vessels of large size. A series of 
shoals or bars, commencing at Cash Island,* and extending, 
at short intervals, entirely up the Ohio River, prevents its 
navigation for long periods, at a time when the growing 
commerce of the west requires it should be in the best order. 
This, in future, will cause a selection of that route for trans- 
portation which can always be confided in. The Mississippi 
always supplies that route to the mouth of the Ohio ; and 
from thence, advantage can be taken of our internal improve- 
ments for conveyance to the interior — or the smaller boats 
can freight from this point for the upper rivers. 

The present situation of our commence is too plainly seen, 
and too sensibly felt, to again admit of confidence in the 
Ohio or Mississippi rivers. For the shipment of produce, 
this place has the advantage of any point above. The river 
below is seldom obstructed when all the rivers above are too 
low for navigation, or blocked up with ice. 

From all these advantages, the interest is apparent which 
the State has in the proper ordering of this important point. 
I have the honor to be 

Your most ob't servant, 
(Signed) J. FREEMAN, 

Principal Engineer Central Rail Road. 

* About six miles above Cairo. 



24 

Extra ct from a Report of a Committee of the Congress 
of the United States at Washington, respecting the Cen- 
tral Railroad, and its Branches to Cairo. 
After examining with care the various memorials and 
accompanying documents, they are of opinion that the work 
in question is one of great national importance, in which 
the people of the States, the great commercial cities and the 
General Government are alike interested. To exhibit more 
distinctly the grounds on which this opinion is formed, your 
committee will with brevity state, the prominent facts from 
the mass of documents before them. Vast losses and great 
delays are annually incurred by the farmers and merchants 
of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri, and by the 
planters of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, and by the 
shipping in the port of New Orleans, from the obstructed 
and impeded navigation in the Upper Mississippi ; and par- 
ticularly of the Ohio river, of an average period of not less 
than four or five months in the year. The obstructions in 
the Ohio, in the summer and fall, arise from low water and 
a succession of sandbars, commencing three miles above 
its junction with the Mississippi, and extending the whole 
length of the river. Ice, in both rivers, in the winter season, 
effectually closes their navigation to the junction at Cairo 
City. Thus the vast productions of the valley of the 
Mississippi and Ohio are kept back at a season when most 
needed in market. At the breaking up of the ice, this 
mighty mass of produce is at one time thrown into the New 
Orleans market. Prices fall from the most extravagant 
height to nominal quotations. The planter and the farmer 
are alike injured by the glut. The speculator, who buys to 
send round is alone benefited. A scarcity again takes place 
before the next crop comes into market. The amount of 
loss occasioned to the community by this state of uncertain 
commercial intercourse, can scarcely be estimated. It is 
sufficient for your committee to attest the fact recorded by 
the united voice of the purchasing merchants of New 
Orleans, and the producing farmers of the upper country. 



25 



Extract from a Report of a Committee of the Senate of 
Illinois on Internal Improvements, and the Central Rail- 
road from Cairo, made on the Wth January, 1841. 

The face of the country in Illinois is decidedly favourable 
to the construction of Railroads ; and there is no other por- 
tion of the Union where such works can be constructed so 
cheaply, and with such efficiency. The wide spread 
prairies, with their admirable fertility, by public improve- 
ments, will be reduced at once to the uses and purposes of 
civilization. Our great staples, the sources of unbounded 
wealth, will find their way to a ready market ; and thus 
encouragement will be given to the producers of the interior, 
and the advantages and profits of agriculture will be more 
equally enjoyed throughout the limits of this flourishing 
State. The instances which might be adduced from other 
States to illustrate these positions are numerous, and will 
readily occur to the mind of every person conversant with 
the history of the United States. 

The Committee recommend that the Central Railroad be 
progressed with, and also that the work be continued from 
the City of Cairo northward, until the final completion of 
the road. Whenever ten miles shall be completed, it can 
be put in operation, and rendered serviceable and useful to 
the State for carrying rock and other materials to Cairo ; and 
the same may be done with every ten miles progressively 
And when forty miles shall be finished and in operation, the 
road will be highly useful and profitable in carrying coal 
from one of the most extensive coal banks in the State to 
the river. It is also a fact worthy of much reflection, that 45 
miles of the road from, Cairo northward are now nearly 
completed, and but little additional expense will be necessary 
to put in operation that portion of the road. Rail road iron 
sufficient to complete about 370 miles of road has already 
been purchased, a large portion of which has been received. 

3 



26 

The works on the southern part of the Central Rail road 
which is so nearly finished, is believed to be the most ex- 
pensive part south of the Illinois river, and it extends nearly 
to the table land, or level prairies, where the expenditures 
of construction will be comparatively small, when^compared 
with some portions of the different roads hereto'fore under 
contract. 

In selecting the Central Railroad it will be seen that the 
Committee have fixed upon the most important one in the 
whole system of improvements. By its completion a continu- 
ous line of Railroad communication will be made to pass 
throughthe very heart of this rich State, from the southern to 
the northern limits thereof. The southern portion of the State 
will supply the whole interior with the greatest abundance 
of timber for all time to come, which can be easily and 
cheaply transported on the Railroad. And in addition to 
other great advantages which will be conferred on the citi- 
zens of Illinois, the building of a large commercial city at 
Cairo would of itself amply repay the expenditures of money 
which must necessarily attend the making of a road. Lo- 
cated at the point where the vast waters of the Ohio and 
Mississippi mingle in their onward course to the ocean, the 
city of Cairo possesses the advantages of commercial position 
which few cities of the earth can rival. Neglected and 
abused as it has been heretofore, it nevertheless now possesses 
more than 2000 inhabitants, and pays into the State treasury 
more than 1000 dollars in taxes. If any man is disposed to 
doubt the invaluable profits to a whole State derived from a 
single city, within its borders, let him look at the cities of 
New- York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, 
St. Louis, &c. Does not the city of New- York pay into the 
State treasury an amount of revenue almost equal to that 
received from the whole State besides? And is not the 
entire character and importance of Louisiana dependent 
upon the city of New Orleans ? And so with the other great 
cities. And then the incalculable and innumerable advan- 



27 

tages, other than those of mere revenue, will be readily sug- 
gested upon proper reflections ; one of which is, that all the 
larger class of steam boats which are plying between New 
Orleans and the ports on the Upper Mississippi and Ohio 
Rivers, on account of the lowness of the waters, and the ob- 
structions by ice, are now discharging their cargoes at Cairo, 
to be forwarded to the respective places of destination by a 
smaller class of boats. 

We have no great commercial emporium in Illinois ; and 
without intending to draw any invidious comparisons, or to 
speak disparagingly of other rising towns and cities, the 
Committee must express their sincere belief that Cairo pre- 
sents as many flattering prospects of future greatness as any 
other place in the State. 



28 

Mr. Septimus Worsley, of London, was deputed by 
parties in England, who had taken an interest in the work, 
to proceed to Cairo for the purpose of inspecting and super- 
intending on their behalf. 

The following are extracts from his correspondence : 

Cairo, Illinois, July 14, 1840. 

Immediately on my arrival at Cairo, I made, with the 
assistance of an experienced gentleman, an accurate exami- 
nation of the works and embankments that have already 
been completed, and of those that are at present in a state 
of forwardness, and I feel confident that the report added 
hereunto will be found correct. 

First. The measurements, as stated by Mr. Strickland, 
are perfectly correct, and I have practical proof that if the 
proposed bank had been completed, the site of the City of 
Cairo would have been perfectly protected from this year's 
flood (the greatest that has been known for eight years) : the 
waters at their highest state not having reached within two 
feet of the top of the levee, which has not yet in any place 
been carried up to its proposed height. It was also ascer- 
tained, that whilst the waters higher up the rivers were 
rapidly increasing, the waters around Cairo, after they had 
attained a certain height, did not rise more than an inch 
during the day. 

Secondly. The works already completed by the Com- 
pany consist of three saw mills, with extensive works 
attached, an iron foundry and machine shop, and a patent 
brick manufactory ; and I do not hesitate to say, that they 
are of first-rate construction, being simple, commodious, and 
very firmly built, doing all the Company's work at a prime 
cost. Indeed, the abundant supply of excellent well-seasoned 
wood, and the reputation that their foundry and other works 
have already obtained, have induced a great number of the 
largest class steam-boats, which cannot ply up the Ohio 
during the dry season of the year, to lay up at Cairo and 



29 

repair, &c, — a source of considerable profit to the Company, 
and will no doubt be an increasing one, since their supply of 
iron, wood, coal, &c, are all excellent of their kind, and 
cheaper than any other city on the two rivers can procure, 
most of it coming from the immediate neighborhood. 

Thirdly. The difficulty attending the drainage of Cairo 
is not near so great as that under which the flourishing town 
of Chicago labours, having, with the exception of a few 
days in the year, ten times as great a fall as that city ; in 
short, the only difficulty is during a high freshet, which 
rarely occurs ; but as it is proposed to make each street from 
the centre of the town, or from the line which is equi-distant 
from the two rivers higher than the levee, and from that 
point or line, to make down each street a brick-built cemented 
sewer, with proper openings, to allow, in case of necessity, 
for the rising of the waters within the drain to open at right 
angles into the main sewer, or straight through the levee 
into the river, thus allowing upwards of forty feet fall in the 
mile each way ; it therefore follows, that unless the levee is 
overflowed, the sewer will be uninjured, and the drainage 
at all times perfectly efficient. 

Fourthly. The embankment of the Central Railroad has 
been commenced within 100 yards of the proposed depot in 
Cairo, and is carried on with a few short breaks for thirty 
miles (the whole distance embanked passim is about 100 
miles) and forms for a considerable distance a secure bank 
to the city of Cairo, and to which the Company propose 
joining their levee, thereby securely enclosing a space of 
upwards of 1000 acres. 

I have only to add my humble opinion to that of many 
scientific men, of the perfect practicability of building the city 
of Cairo. The beauty of its position, the dryness and ferti" 
lity of its soil ; the immediate and immense supply of 
woods, and every other material requisite for building ; the 
excellency of the waters of the Mississippi, far better than 
any of the well water I have tasted in my tour through the 



30 

State of Michigan or of this State (Illinois), and which only 
requires a day to deposit the fine sand with which it is incor- 
porated ; the ease with which the city might be supplied — 
— together with its two immense rivers, offer not only a 
most favorable position, but, in my opinion, a position where 
the cheapest city in the world may be built. 

I think, also, it is evident, that an embankment at this 
point, although a heavy expense at first, is a cheaper method 
of building a town for a large population, than on any undu- 
lating or hilly one, on either of these rivers ; for, take any 
one of the towns, Alton, St. Louis, Louisville or Cincinnati, 
and I will venture to affirm, that in any of them the laying 
of the foundations of two front blocks of buildings, together 
with making the bank in front of them at that angle, which 
is absolutely necessary for commerce on these rivers, will 
cost more than the whole of the proposed embankment at 
Cairo ; for the river at these towns being confined between 
lofty banks rises to a much greater height, and the difficulty 
of making the proper angle in the bank, from the preva- 
lence of rocks in some places, and the sandy properties of 
the soil in others ; and the excavating and carting away in 
this rocky sandy ground, for cellerage, is a greater expense 
than the throwing up a fine loamy soil to a less height and 
contiguous position. 

Indeed, it is acknowledged that the bank at Cincinnati, 
though not so long, has cost more than the proposed one at 
Cairo will ; and it is after all inefficient, the greater part of 
the lower town having been under water to the depth of 
several feet. 

I think, also, that the drainage of Cairo is more simple, 
less expensive, and much less liable to injury than any of 
the aforesaid towns. Indeed, there will be no other town in 
America, I may say in the world, where the drainage, 
superficial and internal, may be so perfect as in Cairo, if it 
is carried out on that liberal and scientific principle that the 
importance of the position demands. 



31 

The position of Cairo does not, cannot admit, of two opin- 
ions as to the possibility of making a bank that will keep 
out the water with the greatest ease and most perfect security 
let it rise to any height short of an absolute deluge, and 
that at a very trifling expense, considering its importance. 

I do not think there is any speculation (so to call it) in 
America, where an investment can be made with half the 
security, or half the chance of getting so large a return, as 
at Cairo. Let the position be as bad as even its worst 
enemies report it ; let the whole place be inundated every 
ten years (about the average of the river overflowing its 
natural banks) yet its advantages of position are such, that 
it would pay a high per centage on the money the Company 
propose expending upon it. 

For my own part, I should say, there is no man, with his 
map before him, with a knowledge of the produce of the 
various States that all meet here through their rivers, 
with a correct account of the navigation of those rivers, and 
the cities on them, together with an insight into the immense 
opening that a railroad to the lakes will produce, no man 
can doubt but that Cairo must at least be an advantageous 
investment, more especially as it has been proved, beyond 
contradiction, that the position can be made perfectly secure 
from floods. 



32 

Letter from the Hon. Hervey Baldwin, of Syracuse, 
N. Y., to one of the Trustees of the Cairo City Property. 

Syracuse, Nov. 1, 1846. 

Dear Sir, 

In answer to the inquiry " What is your opinion of 
Cairo as the site for a great inland town ?" I beg leave to 
remark, that I first became acquainted with that locality in 
the fall of 1S38, at which time, I visited the place, and 
remained there two or three days in company with Messrs. 
Strickland and Taylor, of Philadelphia, and at their request, 
made a complete examination of the place and its capabilities 
as a town site. 

The result, to my mind, was as stated in their Report 
of that year on that subject, and which Report I should 
have most cheerfully signed, had it been prepared for signa- 
ture at the time I left the place. 

I have been at or seen the place almost every year since, 
and at no time have discovered any thing to change or 
weaken that opinion, but on the contrary, to strengthen and 
confirm it. 

Before ever visiting the place, in a conversation with a 
friend, with the map of that region of country before us, I 
put my finger on that point as a natural and obvious location 
for a great inland town ; and when told by him, that it was 
subject to inundation; I then expressed the opinion, " that 
that site would warrant the expenditure of raising a town 
by filling up in 20 feet of water." I am still of that opinion. 

When we take into account its situation at the head of 
navigation at all seasons of the year perfect — the vast 
extent of fertile country which would seek it as its natural 
depot, and the 25,000 miles of navigable waters connected 
with it, who can doubt of the superiority of that location 
over any other in the West or South, or it might with truth 
be said, on the continent. 

For a time it will have to contend with established and 
rival interests at St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati and other 



33 

smaller towns above it on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, 
but these must ultimately yield, and their wealth, enter- 
prise and business, to a considerable extent, be transferred to 
Cairo. 

Had I money to invest, I know of no point where I would 
so soon place it (under proper direction) as at Cairo. 

If this opinion, (unbiased by interest, for I have none 
there,) is of any consequence to you, it is entirely at your 
service. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, 
Your ob'dt servant, 

(Signed) H. BALDWIN. 

Extract from a Letter dated 1st Dec, 1846, of a very 
intelligent and wealthy Agriculturist, residing in Northern 
Illinois, who possesses great experience in the construction 
of Railways, to the same Trustee. 

" The amount of produce that would go to market over 
the Railroad would be immense, and this portion of the 
country has barely began to develop itself. 

" The soil of this country renders our common roads very 
peculiar. When we have dry weather they are excellent, 
but the least wet ruins them, and quite a portion of the year 
they are impassable for heavy loads. 

"The material for making good and permanent roads 
is scarce, and the deposits necessary, so far from each other, 
it would make the cost of a good common turnpike, almost, 
if not quite, equal to a heavy flat iron Railway on spiles." 



CAIRO CITY PROPERTY 

THE DELTA FORMED BY THE UNION OP THE OHIO AND 
MISSISSIPPI RIVERS, ILLINOIS. 



(Extract from a Western Review.) 

As the value of property in Cairo depends upon its posi- 
tion as a commercial and manufacturing city, and upon the 
amount of produce, merchandise, and manufactures, seeking 
that place as a common market, it might be well to say 
something upon these subjects ; and first 

OF THE PROBABLE POPULATION.— It will be 
seen, by referring to the map of the United States, that the 
rivers which pass the city of Cairo on their way to the 
ocean, are destined to bear the produce of the States of 
Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wiscon- 
sin and Missouri, and also, in the winter, many of the pro- 
ducts of Michigan, to say nothing of those parts of Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, watered by the upper branches of the 
Ohio, or of the vast tract watered by the Upper Missouri. 

Acres. 



Kentucky contains 

Ohio, « 

Indiana, " 

Illinois, " 

Missouri, " 

Michigan, " 

Iowa, say " 
Wisconsin, " 



25,920,000' 
25,000,000 
23,040,0001 
38,080,000' 
39,424,000, 
24,320,000 1 
39,000,000 
35,300,000 . 



making 

250.0S4.000 

Acres. 



35 

The following table shows the progressive increase of 
population in those States for the last thirty years. 







In 1810. 


In 1820. 


In 1830. 


In 1840. 


Ohio, 


was 


230,760 


581,434 


937,903 


1,519,467 


Kentucky, 


ti 


406,511 


564,317 


687,917 


779,828 


Indiana, 


u 


24,520 


147,178 


343,031 


685,866 


Illinois, 


u 


12,282 


55,211 


157,455 


476,183 


Missouri, 


tt 


20,845 


66.586 


140,445 


383,702 


Michigan, 


il 


4,762 


8,896 


31,639 


212,267 


Iowa, 


(( 








30,945 


Wisconsin, 


(I 








43,112 



699,680 1,423,622 2,298,390 4,131,370 
When we take into consideration that the population of 
France ... is 166 to the square mile. 
Great Britain, . is 225 " 

Austria, ... is 151 " 

Belgium, ... is 345 " 

Holland, ... is 203 " 

and that in some of the other European States it is even 
greater, stimulated as emigration will be by the condition of 
the overgrown population of Europe, and the increased acti- 
vity and greater economy given to commerce by the intro- 
duction of steam and the creation of railroads, it will be 
assumed that, as the greater part of the emigrants from the 
other States, as well as those from Europe, will go into these 
States, the population will, for the next thirty years, continue 
to increase at the same rate. This would give 24,382,619 
of inhabitants in the year 1870, in these eight States alone. 

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.— If we assume that 
the population in 1870 will be 24,382,019, it will make but 
60 to the square mile. The territory of Ohio is but one- 
tenth part, and as the soil in the other States is of equal 
fertility, the agricultural products will increase in the ratio 
of the increased population : it is therefore assumed that a 



36 



comparison of the present population and agricultural pro- 
ducts of Ohio with the population and agricultural products 
of the whole district for 1870, will approximate the truth. 
The following table is prepared on this basis. The first 
column gives the agricultural products of a population of 
1,519,467 on 25,000,000 of acres in Ohio in the year 1840, 
as appears by the official returns made to Congress : the 
second gives the products of a population of 24,382,619 on 
250,000,000 acres, as estimated for the year 1870. 





The products of Ohio 
in 1840, as given in 
the official report. 


Estimated products of 
Ohio, Kentucky, 
Illinois, Indiana, 
Wisconsin, Iowa, 
Michigan and Mis- 
souri, in 1870. 


Mules and Horses . 


411,041 . 


. 6,165,615 




. 1,196,703 . 


. 17,950,695 




1,975,100 . 


. 19,626,000 




2,103,209 . 


31,548 135 


Poultry, value in dollai 


s 734,931 . 


. 11,023,960 


Bushels of Wheat . . 


16,292,951 . . 


244,394,265 


Barley, (bushels) 


207,590 . 


. 3,113,S50 


Oats, „ > ■ 


13,993,624 . 


209,904,360 


Rye, „ • . 


801.335 . 


. 12,039,145 


Buck Wheat " . 


681,943 . 


. 10,220,025 


Corn, (maize) . . 


33,954,162 . 


509,312,430 


Wools, (pounds) 


3,650,970 . 


54,764,550 


Hops, " . . . 


62,148 . . 


932,220 


Wax, " . . . 


39,025 . . 


585,425 


Potatoes, (bushels) 


5,629,784 . . 


84,446,760 


Hay, (tons) . . 


1,029,321 . . 


15,439,875 


Flax, 


252,520 . . 


3,787,800 


Tobacco, (pounds) . 


6,023,309 . . 


90,349,635 


Silk, " . . 


4,139 . . 





Sugar, " . . 


6,9S9,088 . . 


........ 


Wine, (gallons) . . 


166,844 . . 




Pearl Ashes, (tons) . 


5,786 . . 


86,790 


Dairy, (value dollars) 


1,705,134 > . 


25,627,010 


Orchard, " 


461,191 . . 


6,917,S65 


Lumber, " . . 


303,519 . . 


4,603,280 



37 

These quantities are so great that the rnind is bewildered 
in computing their value, and some may not believe that 
the estimates will be realized. By a reference to the map, 
it will be seen, that the State of Tennessee and a large tract 
of land on the Upper Missouri are not embraced in the esti- 
mate. If the population of the United States in the short 
period of their political existence, has risen from three 
millions to seventeen millions, under all the embarrassment 
of the intervening period, who can estimate or anticipate 
what may be accomplished in this age of enterprise and 
improvement ? But if it be admitted that the estimate is 
too large, that instead of being twenty-four millions, the 
population of this district will not exceed fifteen or twenty 
or even twelve millions, what must be the trade of Cairo 
when it becomes the market at which the products of the 
labor of twelve millions of population, are exchanged for the 
products of other twelve millions of people ? 

The questions under consideration are : Will Cairo become 
a great commercial city? With the facts before him, the 
reader cannot hesitate, when he is told, that of the 250,000,000 
acres of land included in the estimates, there is scarce an 
acre that is not productive ; that Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, 
and Missouri abound in Minerals, Coal, Iron, Lead, Copper 
and Salt ; that all the other states contain inexhaustible 
quantities of Coal and Iron ; that in the immediate neigh- 
borhood of Cairo is an abundant supply of iron and mineral 
coal, and that stone, clay, sand and timber, and all building 
materials are to be had upon the spot or its immediate 
neighborhood, and upon terms much below any European 
estimate. 

TRADE AND MANUFACTURES.— The fact that 
Cairo will be the point at which the agricultural products 
of the country, and the products of the south and foreign 
merchandise will be exchanged or transferred from one class 
of vessels to another. The whole number of Steamboats 
now running on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and their 

4 



38 

tributaries, is estimated to be seven hundred ; while in 1838, 
there were only half that number, yet notwithstanding this 
great increase, the immense and growing commerce of 
the West is so vast, that a large part of its productions 
cannot be forwarded to market before the suspension of 
Navigation above Cairo for large boats. Hence the necessity 
of making this point the principal depot for Western pro- 
duce, it being accessible at all seasons for largest class 
of Steamers from the Gulf of Mexico. At this place will be 
made the machinery used in the Southern States. Here, 
too, steam-boats will be made and repaired ; here extensive 
flour mills will be erected, and manufacturers of all kinds 
will find living cheaper, because it will be the great corn 
and provision market ; and a ready sale, because those who 
bring produce here to sell, will come also to purchase manu- 
factures. The modification of the British and American 
tariff will enable England to receive in exchange for her 
manufactures, the flour, wheat, corn, pork, beef, lard and 
bacon of Cairo, and a direct trade will be carried on greatly 
to the advantage of both countries. An estimate of the 
quantities which can be furnished, and which, owing to the 
fact that the lakes are closed during the winter months, 
must find their way to market by Cairo, may be formed by 
the table given above. But when we see what eighteen 
millions of people inhabiting the little island of Great Britain 
have done, who can estimate what can be accomplished by 
the concentration of the energy and enterprise of adventurers 
from all the nations of Europe on 250,000,000 of acres, the 
richest and most productive in America? 

Who can examine the map and entertain a single doubt 
that what has been said of Cairo will be fully realized? 
And the value of the city property may be estimated by a 
comparison with what would be the value of land if, say 
one half of the buildings of London, or Liverpool, or Paris, 
or New York, were destroyed by fire. What commerce, 
capital, and adventitious circumstances have done for Lon- 



39 

don, Paris and Liverpool, — its natural position, and the 
progress of population in the dependent territory have done 
for Cairo. All that is now required to make it a great city 
is the application of capital in the completion of the quays, 
wharves, and embankments, and the erection of dwellings, 
warehouses, and other places of business. The necessities 
of commerce will supply a population ; and, as in the case 
of rebuilding a city, the returns upon the capital invested will 
be in the proportion to the value of land and improvements, 
so will the capital, invested in the improvements of Cairo, 
yield an interest on the real estate, as well as on the money 
expended. 

The value of allotments in towns on the Western Rivers, 
far less favorably situated than Cairo for carrying on exten- 
sive Commerce, is estimated from actual sales, to average 
3,000 dollars each. Several of these towns contain a popu- 
lation of from 30 to 75,000, which has grown up since the 
introduction of Steamboats, the estimate value of the Cairo 
property, as before stated, is contingent on the development 
which may be given to it by the outlay of additional capital, 
and the increase of population. But the large fortunes 
which have been realized in all countries from the sale and 
letting of land within and near the sites of towns and cities, 
and the unexampled rapid growth of towns favorably situated 
in this country, may serve as data for conjectural estimate. 



40 

The following extract, from a valuable work on Illinois, 
published in 1S37, by S. A. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, 
refers to the land at the confluence of the Ohio and 
Mississippi. 

" The importance of a good town site at the union of these 
mighty streams has, for many years, excited the attention of 
the enterprizing. It is a feature in the rivers of the ' western 
country, with few exceptions, that at or near their junction, 
the land is alluvial, and at the highest annual floods, usually 
inundated to the depth of several feet. This is the case, 
particularly at the mouth of the Ohio. For twelve miles 
along the river above its mouth, and a farther distance along 
the Mississippi, and across the point to Cash river, the coun- 
try is subject to occasional inundations. Had the Author of 
Nature formed here an elevated situation, nothing could 
have prevented this spot from becoming the central commer- 
cial emporium of the great ' Western Valley.' The im- 
mense trade of the Ohio and Mississippi, at some future day, 
will warrant the expense of forming an artificial site at this 
point, for a commercial town. The termination here of the 
great ' Central Rail Road,' through the State of Illinois, will 
greatly facilitate this object, and with the commerce of these 
great rivers, build up a splendid city. In due time, art, 
enterprize and perseverance, will triumph over nature at 
this place, and a large commercial city will no doubt exist 
where the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi occasionally 
spread." 



MEMORANDUM, 

Takenfrom Peck's Gazetteer, of the length of the Ohio 

and Mississippi Rivers, and their tributaries, above 

the City of Cairo. 



RIVERS. 


RECIPIENT. 


MILES. RIVERS. 


RECIPIENT. 


MILES. 


Alleghany 


Ohio river 


300 Missouri Mississippi river 


3217 


Cumberland 


do 


450 Ohio 


do 


945 


Grand Kanawha 


do 


327 Ouisconsin 


do 


380 


Grand Miami 


do 


174 Rock 


do 


285 


Green Run 


do 


308 Rum 


do 


127 


Guyandot 


do 


134 St. Peters 


do 


400 


Hocking 


do 


100 Salt 


do 


200 


Kentucky 


do 


312 Turkey 


do 


135 


Licking 


do 


204 Upper Iowa 


do 


180 


Little Kanawha 


do 


127 Big Sandy 


Tennessee, 


160 


Monongahela 


do 


216 Clinch 


do 


230 


Muskingum 


do 


203 Duck 


do 


185 


Salt 


do 


110 Elk % 


do 


125 


Sciota 


do 


200 Halston 


do 


230 


Tennessee 


do 


850 Caney Fork 


Cumberland 


100 


Wabash 


do 


477 S. Fork Cumberland do 


105 


Au Canoe Missouri river 


100 Des Plaines 


Illinois 


100 


Chariton 


do 


143 Fos 


do 


104 


Crow Wing 


do 


115 Kankakee 


do 


143 


East Fork 


do 


145 Mackinaw 


do 


113 


Gasconade 


do 


204 Sangamon 


do 


175 


Grand 


do 


272 Spoon 


do 


125 


Grand Nemanha 


do 


220 Embarras 


Wabash 


135 


Konzas 


do 


1200 Little Wabash 


do 


200 


Nodaway 


do 


115 Missineway 


do 


100 


Osage 


do 


293 White 


do 


260 


Wood 


do 


120 East Fork White River (In. 


) 228 


Chippewa 


do 


200 West Fork 


do 


225 


Des Moines 


Mississippi 


400 French Road 


Holston (Ten. 


) 176 


Forked Deer 


do 


114 Grand 


Osage 


134 


Great Maquanguetois do 


120 North Fork 


do 


130 


Illinois 


do 


400 Greenbrier 


Kanawha 


130 


Kaskaskia 


do 


250 Keskiminetos 


Allegheny 


103 


Lower Iowa 


do 


237 Long Beach 


Grand 


130 


Maramic 


do 


184 Mississippi Gulf of Mexico 


3000 


Nolicuchy 


French Broad 


125 New Great Kanawha 


115 


Pickamink 


Kankakee 


100 Pine 


Ouisconsin 


125 


Powells 


Clinch 


105 Rufus 
9754 


Chippewa 


100 




13045 










9754 


Total— mi 


22799 



The Rivers less than 100 miles long, are omitted. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



in mil mil mil iim ii 



014 610 093 4 <© 




# fr £60 019 frT0 



ssaaoNOD do Aa«aai-i 



